1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a connecting structure. More specifically, the present invention relates to a connecting structure for connecting a cable and a light source.
2. Background Information
A conventional liquid crystal module includes a lead cable and a cold cathode tube as a backlight. The cable includes a lead wire exposed at one end of the cable. An exposed end of the lead wire is bent to form a ring-shaped wound part. The cold cathode tube includes a pin-shaped terminal protruding from an end of the cold cathode tube. The pin-shaped terminal is inserted into the wound part of the cable and fixed to the wound part with solder.
Meanwhile, with another connecting structure for connecting a cold cathode tube, a flat doughnut-shaped terminal fitting is provided to a distal end of a power-feed wire. A pin-shaped terminal of the cold cathode tube is inserted into a hole of the terminal fitting. Then, the pin-shaped terminal and the terminal fitting are soldered together (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2002-124308).
Also, with another connecting structure for connecting a cold cathode tube, a terminal protruding from an end of the cold cathode tube is bent in a hook shape. The hook-shaped terminal is hooked onto and soldered to a wheel-shaped part formed at a distal end portion of a power-feed wire (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2005-247049)
With the conventional connecting structures, a direction of a center line of the ring-shaped wound part intersects a direction of the cable at a right angle. Thus, when the pin-shaped terminal of the cold cathode tube is inserted into the ring-shaped wound part and joined with the solder, the cable and the pin-shaped terminal of the cold cathode tube are not connected in a straight line. The connection is instead bent in an elbow shape. Consequently, stress concentrates at an elbow-shaped connection portion. Therefore, there is a risk of wire breakage.
Also, with the connecting structure of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2002-124308, a direction of a center line of the flat doughnut-shaped terminal fitting intersects a direction of the power-feed wire at a right angle. Thus, the same problems are encountered as with the above-mentioned conventional connecting structure. Furthermore, since the flat doughnut-shaped terminal fitting has to be separately produced and attached, both the number of required parts and the number of assembly steps increase.
With the connecting structure of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2005-247049, the hook-shaped terminal of the cold cathode tube is hooked onto and soldered to the wheel-shaped part of the power-feed wire. Thus, the cold cathode tube and the power-feed wire are connected in a straight line, which prevents stress from concentrating at a connected portion. However, in addition to bending the end of the power-feed wire into a ring shape, the terminal of the cold cathode tube has to be bent into a hook shape, or a cold cathode tube having a terminal bent in a hook shape has to be readied separately. Thus, the manufacturing cost increases.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved connecting structure. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.